ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism by which Notoginsenoside R1 （NGR1） ameliorates hypoxia/reoxygenation （H/R）-induced injury in AC16 human cardiomyocyte cell lines through the regulation of mitophagy. MethodsCommon genes linked to hypoxia/reoxygenation injury and mitophagy were identified by intersecting data from GeneCards and MitoCarta databases. AC16 cell viability was assessed via CCK-8 assay under varying NGR1 concentrations （0， 6.25， 12.5， 25， 50， 100， 200， 300， 400， 500 μmol/L）. AC16 cells were divided into the following groups： control group （Control）， model group （H/R）， and treatment groups （H/R + NGR1 at 100， 200 and 300 μmol/L）. Mitochondrial membrane potential （ΔΨm） was measured using 5，5'，6，6'-tetrachloro-1，1'，3，3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolylcarbocyanine iodide （JC-1） staining. Transcriptional levels of mitophagy-related genes （Parkin， Pink1， P62） were quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR （RT-qPCR）. Protein expression of mitophagy-related markers （Parkin， Pink1， P62， and LC3BⅡ） was evaluated via Western blot analysis. Mitochondrial ultrastructure was visualized by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. ResultsCompared to the control group， cell viability in the H/R group significantly decreased （P<0.01）. Treatment with NGR1 at concentrations above 100 μmol/L significantly enhanced the cell viability of AC16 cells compared to the H/R group （P<0.01）. H/R induced a significant decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential （P<0.01）， which was restored by NGR1 treatment （P<0.01）. The mRNA levels of Parkin， Pink1， and P62 in the H/R group were upregulated compared to the control group （P<0.05）， while NGR1 intervention downregulated their expression （P<0.05）. Protein expression levels of Parkin， Pink1， and LC3BⅡ in the H/R group significantly increased， while P62 expression decreased compared to the control group （P<0.01）. In contrast， different doses of NGR1 treatment significantly reduced the expression of Parkin， Pink1， and LC3BⅡ while increasing P62 expression （P<0.05）. TEM revealed that the mitochondrial structure in the H/R group was severely disrupted， with fragmented and disorganized cristae， which was alleviated by NGR1. ConclusionNGR1 ameliorates H/R-induced AC16 cell injury， and its mechanism may be associated with modulating the Pink1/Parkin pathway to suppress excessive mitophagy.

As a new generation of time-of-flight mass spectrometry,multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MR-TOF-MS)has been increasingly applied in the fields such as nuclear physics,chemistry,and biology due to its ultra-high resolution and rapid analysis capabilities.However,the analytical performance of MR-TOF-MS largely depends on the ion bunch state entering the mass analyzer.In this study,a rectangular ion trap(RIT)was developed,designed and processed using printed circuit board technology,as an ion accumulating and focusing device for MR-TOF mass analyzer.Compared to traditional ion traps composed of two sets of planar electrodes,this RIT had higher voltage utilization efficiency,resulting in more efficient ion collection and focusing.The ions were cooled to a sufficiently small bunch for precise mass measurement with MR-TOF-MS mass spectrometry in only 1 ms of cooling time in the RIT,then orthogonally ejected to the MR-TOF mass spectrometer for mass analysis.Experimental results indicated that the working cycle,ion flux,and ion focusing state of the RIT fully met the requirements of the MR-TOF mass analyzer.When coupled with the MR-TOF mass analyzer,the RIT enabled MR-TOF-MS to achieve a mass resolution of 1.5×105.

We propose a strategy to reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies in Chinese patients with total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) >10 ng ml -1 and Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) scores between 1 and 3. Clinical data derived from 517 patients of The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC (Hefei, China) from January 2020 to December 2023 who met the screening criteria for the study were retrospectively collected. Independent predictors were identified via univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The diagnostic capacity of clinical variables was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC). A prostate biopsy strategy was developed via risk stratification. Of the 517 patients, 17/348 (4.9%) with PI-RADS 1-2 were diagnosed with clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa), and 27/169 (16.0%) patients with PI-RADS 3 were diagnosed with csPCa. The appropriate prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) cut-off values were 0.45 ng ml -2 for PI-RADS 1-2 patients and 0.3 ng ml -2 for PI-RADS 3 patients. The appropriate prostate volume (PV) cut-off values were 40 ml for PI-RADS 1-2 patients and 50 ml for PI-RADS 3 patients. The prostate biopsy strategy based on PSAD and PV developed in this study can reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies in patients with tPSA >10 ng ml -1 and PI-RADS 1-3. In the study, 66.5% (344/517) patients did not need to undergo prostate biopsy, at the expense of missing only 1.7% (6/344) patients with csPCa.
Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Prostate/diagnostic imaging* ; Unnecessary Procedures/statistics & numerical data* ; Biopsy/statistics & numerical data* ; China ; ROC Curve

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features, treatment and prognosis of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL) with skin lesions as initial symptom. METHODS: The clinical data of 11 ENKTL patients with skin lesions as initial symptom were retrospectively analyzed from August 2016 to January 2023 in Wuhan First Hospital and Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. RESULTS: Among the 11 patients, there were 6 males and 5 females, with a median age of 50(32-80) years. All patients had different forms of skin lesions as initial clinical symptom, including rash, ulcerative mass, painful skin nodules, infiltrating macula, etc. Most of the skin lesions were involved in the limbs and trunk but also appeared in the lower limbs alone. Five patients had hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) at initial diagnosis, and 8 patients had B symptoms. All patients were diagnosed with advanced clinical staging (Lugano staging IV), and classified as high risk (PINK-E score ≥3). Immunohistochemical examination revealed that the positive rates of CD56 and EBER were both 100%, and the median Ki-67 index was 75%(50%-80%). Plasma EBV-DNA tests were all positive (≥5×10² copies/ml). Most of the induction chemotherapy regimens were combination chemotherapy (MESA, p-Gemox, SMILE) containing pegaspargase or L-asparaginase, or combined with PD-1 monoclonal immunotherapy, or HLH regimens (HLH-04 regimen, L-DEP). The median follow-up time and overall survival (OS) time were both 4.5(0.5-27) months. During the follow-up period, all 8 patients who did not receive autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) died, most of whom died of rapid disease progression. Three patients received ASCT, one died of central nervous system recurrence after transplantation, and two survived. The OS of three patients who underwent ASCT was 21, 27, and 19 months, and PFS was 11, 20, and 13 months, respectively. The plasma EBV-DNA copy number was monitored irregularly after transplantation, and the load of EBV was consistent with the changes of the disease. CONCLUSIONS Early clinical symptoms of ENKTL patients with skin lesions as initial symptom are more atypical, and early diagnosis is particularly difficult. The disease progresses rapidly and the prognosis is poor. There is still no uniform standard for the best treatment strategy. The survival of patients can be significantly prolonged by applying ASCT as soon as possible after complete remission obtained by high-dose induction chemotherapy.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Lymphoma, Extranodal NK-T-Cell/diagnosis* ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Retrospective Studies ; Aged ; Prognosis ; Aged, 80 and over

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect and safety of Chinese medicine (CM) Fuzheng Huazhuo Decoction (FHD) in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who persistently tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at Shanghai New International Expo Center shelter hospital in China between April 1 and May 30, 2022. Patients diagnosed as COVID-19 with persistently positive SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for ⩾8 days after diagnosis were enrolled. Patients in the control group received conventional Western medicine (WM) treatment, while those in the FHD group received conventional WM plus FHD for at least 3 days. The primary outcome was viral clearance time. Secondary outcomes included negative conversion rate within 14 days, length of hospital stay, cycle threshold (Ct) values of the open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab) and nucleocapsid protein (N) genes, and incidence of new-onset symptoms during hospitalization. Adverse events (AEs) that occurred during the study period were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 1,765 eligible patients were enrolled in this study (546 in the FHD group and 1,219 in the control group). Compared with the control group, patients receiving FHD treatment showed shorter viral clearance time for nucleic acids [hazard ratio (HR): 1.500, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.353-1.664, P<0.001] and hospital stays (HR: 1.371, 95% CI: 1.238-1.519, P<0.001), and a higher negative conversion rate within 14 days (96.2% vs. 82.6%, P<0.001). The incidence of new-onset symptoms was 59.5% in the FHD group, similar to 57.8% in the control group (P>0.05). The Ct values of ORF1ab and N genes increased more rapidly over time in the FHD group than those in the control group post-randomization (ORF1ab gene: β =0.436±0.053, P<0.001; N gene: β =0.415 ±0.053, P<0.001). The incidence of AEs in the FHD group was lower than that in the control group (24.2% vs. 35.4%, P<0.001). No serious AEs were observed. CONCLUSION FHD was effective and safe for patients with persistently positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests. (Registration No. ChiCTR2200063956).
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; COVID-19 Drug Treatment ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects* ; COVID-19/virology* ; Adult ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To explore the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of Dendrobium officinale (Tiepi Shihu) extract (DOE) on insomnia. METHODS: Forty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (n=7 per group): normal control, model control, melatonin (MT, 40 mg/kg), and 3-dose DOE (0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 g/kg) groups. Rats were raised in a strong-light (10,000 LUX) and -noise (>80 db) environment (12 h/d) for 16 weeks to induce insomnia, and from week 10 to week 16, MT and DOE were correspondingly administered to rats. The behavior tests including sodium pentobarbital-induced sleep experiment, sucrose preference test, and autonomous activity test were used to evaluate changes in sleep and emotions of rats. The metabolic-related indicators such as blood pressure, blood viscosity, blood glucose, and uric acid in rats were measured. The pathological changes in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) region of rat brain were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin staining and Nissl staining. Additionally, the sleep-related factors gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (GA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, we screened potential sleep-improving receptors of DOE using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array and validated the results with quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: DOE significantly improved rats' sleep and mood, increased the sodium pentobarbital-induced sleep time and sucrose preference index, and reduced autonomic activity times (P<0.05 or P<0.01). DOE also had a good effect on metabolic abnormalities, significantly reducing triglyceride, blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood viscosity indicators (P<0.05 or P<0.01). DOE significantly increased the GABA content in hippocampus and reduced the GA/GABA ratio and IL-6 level (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In addition, DOE improved the pathological changes such as the disorder of cell arrangement in the hippocampus and the decrease of Nissel bodies. Seven differential genes were screened by PCR array, and the GABA_A receptors (Gabra5, Gabra6, Gabrq) were selected for verification. The results showed that DOE could up-regulate their expressions (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION DOE demonstrated remarkable potential for improving insomnia, which may be through regulating GABA_A receptors expressions and GA/GABA ratio.
Animals ; Dendrobium/chemistry* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Male ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/blood* ; Plant Extracts/therapeutic use* ; Receptors, GABA-A/metabolism* ; Noise/adverse effects* ; Light/adverse effects* ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid/metabolism* ; Sleep/drug effects* ; Rats ; Receptors, GABA/metabolism*

Objective To analyze the current quality of treatment for hospitalized cancer patients in Bei-jing,identify major issues in treatment practices,and propose improvements.Methods Nine hospitals in Beijing were selected for examination.Expert on-site interviews and medical record sampling were conducted.The"Bei-jing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Quality Control Checklist"was used to assess the hardware,management,anti-cancer drug therapy,radiation therapy,and surgical treatment during cancer treatment at these hospitals from January to October 2023.The relevant problems were analyzed.Results Among the nine hospitals,two(22.2％)were equipped with laminar flow rooms,and three(33.3％)had intravenous drug preparation centers.In terms of institutional management,seven hospitals(77.8％)had standardized anti-cancer drug prescription authority management,eight(88.9％)had complete emergency plans,and five(55.6％)had oncology specialist pharmacists.Regarding anti-cancer drug therapy,the areas with higher completion rates included pathology diag-nosis support(97.6％),routine pre-treatment examinations(96.3％),adverse reaction evaluation(92.7％),discharge summaries(95.1％),and admission records(91.5％).However,the accuracy of tumor staging before treatment(70.7％)and the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy after drug treatment(76.9％)needed improvement.The oncology specialty significantly outperformed the non-oncology specialty in terms of the accuracy rate of TNM staging(86.0％vs.46.9％,P＜0.001),the completeness of informed consent forms(100％vs.68.8％,P＜0.001),the completeness of drug indication evaluation(96.0％vs.78.1％,P=0.025),the completeness of admission medical history records(98.0％vs.81.3％,P=0.008),the rationality of drug dosage(96.0％vs.75.0％,P=0.005),the rationality of drug infusion time(100％vs.62.5％,P＜0.001),and the rationality of the order of drug infusion(100％vs.87.5％,P=0.010).Although the quality of radiation therapy was high,the subsequent evaluation of therapeutic efficacy(39.3％)requires enhancement.In surgical treatment,the preoper-ative pathology diagnosis support rate(78.1％)and the accuracy of tumor staging(37.5％)were relatively low,indicating issues with incomplete preoperative evaluation and the absence of multidisciplinary discussions.Conclusions There remains significant room for improvement in the quality of cancer treatment in China.It is recommended to standardize tumor staging assessment processes,strengthen entry assessments for non-oncology departments,promote the implementation of multidisciplinary treatment models,and establish a multi-department collaborative management model.Continuous monitoring of cancer diagnosis and treatment quality indicators is es-sential to promote ongoing improvements in cancer treatment quality.

Objective:To investigate the effect of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) on the biological activity of infantile hemangioma (IH) -derived endothelial cells (HemECs) .Methods:Three proliferating IH tissues and three involuting IH tissues were collected from IH patients receiving surgical resection at the Department of Pediatric Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from February to August 2021. Primary HemECs were isolated from proliferating IH tissues, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) served as the control. The TGF-β1 expression levels in tissues and cells were detected by immunohistochemical study and Western blot analysis. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay was performed to assess the effect of 0 (control group) - 100 ng/ml TGF-β1 on HemEC proliferation. HemECs were treated with 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 or without (control group), and after several hours of treatment, Transwell assay was performed to evaluate cell migration ability, and immunofluorescence assay to assess the changes in the expression of endothelial markers (platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 [CD31], vascular endothelial cadherin [VE-cadherin]) and mesenchymal markers (α-smooth muscle actin [α-SMA], collagen type Ⅰ α 1 [COL1A1]). Comparisons between groups were conducted by t test or one-way analysis of variance. Results:Immunohistochemical study showed that proliferating IH tissues were stained positively for TGF-β1, which was expressed relatively abundantly; the percentages of TGF-β1-positive signal area were higher in the proliferating IH tissues (24.68% ± 3.74%) than in the involuting IH tissues (almost no expression). Western blot analysis revealed that the relative expression level of TGF-β1 was significantly higher in HemECs (1.08 ± 0.13) than in HUVECs (0.30 ± 0.04, t = 9.93, P < 0.001). CCK8 assay showed increased proliferative activity of HemECs in the 3.125-, 6.25-, 12.5-, 25-, 50- and 75-ng/ml TGF-β1 groups compared with the control group (all P < 0.05), and no significant difference was found between the 100-ng/ml TGF-β1 group and the control group ( P > 0.05). Transwell assay revealed an increased number of migratory HemECs in the 5-ng/ml TGF-β1 group (127 ± 6) compared with the control group (103 ± 9; t = 5.32, P < 0.01). Immunofluorescence assay showed significantly decreased fluorescence intensity of endothelial markers CD31 and VE-cadherin in the 5-ng/ml TGF-β1 group (5.441 ± 1.254, 5.073 ± 0.412, respectively) compared with the control group (9.518 ± 1.728,7.671 ± 0.921, t = 3.31, 4.46, P = 0.030, 0.011, respectively), and significantly increased fluorescence intensity of mesenchymal markers α-SMA and COL1A1 in the 5-ng/ml TGF-β1 group (8.074 ± 0.846, 5.885 ± 0.216, respectively) compared with the control group (0.393 ± 0.342, 0.295 ± 0.125, t = 14.58, 38.76, P < 0.001, < 0.000 1, respectively) . Conclusion:TGF-β1 was relatively highly expressed in the proliferating IH tissues and HemECs, and could promote the proliferation, migration and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of HemECs.